Testing Formula Cars with my Kart driver at Yas Marina

[haddow]

Hey Guys

Last weekend I got a call that my Kart driver had the chance to go test Formula Gulf Cars at Yas Marina F1 circuit in Abu Dhabi.
We went for three days of night time sessions (6PM to 12 PM) where we essentially had the track to ourselves.
Sanad is only 15 years old and had never driven a standard transmission car before his first lap (which required a little wheeling and dealing to be done with Oman to get a competition license issued) By the end of the third day he was just over 1 second off the lap record, already faster than the average pace for other drivers in the same car.
If Team Oman can secure a sponsor we will race the series next year.

Lots of pics here

http://www.professorspeed.ca/formula/

some exmaples below....

[WhoDoYouThink]

Wow, that kid is fast! Good luck to all involved, I hope you land a great sponsor!

[haddow]

I hope we get a sponsor too! Then I can tour with this series as well as Karting. He would still Kart next year and his younger brother is too young to race these cars.
Yes Sanad is pretty fast, he a had a few spins early on but I told him not to worry about it as you don't know the limits of the car and braking etc unless you actually cross them LOL. Anyway once he got comfortable he picked up pace quickly. He also got great instruction from the staff and they reviewed tonnes of telemetry data and high definition onboard video that also had lots of telemetry overlaid on the video.

He did cook at started on one spin. You have to immediately grad the clutch if you spin as the starter is pre engaged and if you spin at speed the start over rotates and explodes, which it did. We had to bump start him for the rest of the session.

It was an awesome experience. We also stayed at a hotel right beside the track and had drinks and lunch at Yas Hotel which is directly over the track!

L8R

Jody

[OX]

Hi Jody,
I'm curious, what type of motor powers these Formula Gulf cars?

Dave Ox.

[Shawn68z]

Hi Jody,
I'm curious, what type of motor powers these Formula Gulf cars?

Dave Ox.

Pretty sure they use GSXR-1000 motorcycle motors.

[haddow]

Yes they are standard GSXR 1000 engines making about 150 hp. Not lots but the car is only 400kg total. So half teh power to weight ratio as a super bike but 5 times the downforce. They do however have enough power to spin the car out on every corner if you just mash the gas. The descent downforce also allows them to carry good speed through corners, making them pretty high performance.

One kid we race karts with tested with us in the Formula Gulf cars, he also races in the Formula BMW series in Europe and has tested a Formula Renault, he says they are basically the same performance level. They also serve the same purpose (as a stepping stone after graduation from Kart). Watch for a kid named Edward Jones (Dubai) , he has a descent shot at going far with racing. We race him a lot, he is a great kid and his parents spend about 1.5 million dollars a year on his racing efforts (after sponsor money). He takes it serious.